Michael Church

"Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears."

- Les Brown

Founded in 2012 by wildlife enthusiast Michael Church , The Rookeepers Mobile Zoo have grown to be one of Victoria’s leading wildlife incursion providers, and presents interactive wildlife shows for early learning centers, kindergartens and primary schools.

Our mobile zoo has a wide range of Australian native animals including reptiles, birds, mammals and marine life which are all hand raised or tame to make your wildlife encounter much more personal.

Born in Melbourne, Michael always had a fascination with zoos and animals and when he was four he told his nan he wanted to be a giraffe keeper. After moving to Ballarat in 2000 with his family, Michael went through primary school and high school with the mentality that zoo keeping would be impossible to gain work in, as it was a job thousands of people applied for. After countless jobs that he did not enjoy, Michael decided to knuckle down and study to be a keeper in Melbourne. After only 1 year he gained employment with a local wildlife park and that’s were his love for public speaking and education arose. From there he set out on his own and started an unique wildlife education program which grew rapidly in to one of Victoria’s leading providers for wildlife and reptile incursions .

The Rookeepers is not just a job for Director Michael Church, its a way of life and a passion. From sunrise to sunset, 365 days a year, there is always something that needs to be done, from scrubbing the crocodile pond or owl enclosures, to wildlife shows, e mails and feed outs in our 60 animal zoo, the work never ends, and its Michael’s passion that drives him to work hard and try and change the way people think about our flora and fauna.